Don't Try So Hard
by PplusAforever
Summary: Sometimes, Percy's luck rubs off on Annabeth. Today is one of those days where nothing is going as she planned.


Annabeth sighed, stumbling through the woods. Her luck hadn't always been this bad. Percy must be rubbing off on her. She pushed blonde curls from her face. Of course, on the one day she decided to dress up, this had to happen. She never tried very hard on her appearance, but today was Percy's birthday and she had wanted to impress him. He meant a lot to Annabeth. She had spent the morning curling the bottom of her hair, but now, it looked like a tangled rat's nest. Aphrodite was probably gagging in disgust right now. Annabeth tripped over a root, falling towards the ground. She cursed as a thorn grazed her cheek. Great. Her makeup was definitely ruined now. Not that Percy would care. She knew Percy wrap her in his arms, giving her his stupid, goofy grin. He'd look at her from underneath his jet-black hair; he'd tell her: _You know, Annabeth, you don't have to try so hard_. She sighed again, wiping the blood from her wound.

 _Where was that dwarf?_

So apparently, someone had let a dwarf loose at Camp Half-Blood. She had been visiting, because she thought it would be a good place to get Percy's gift ready. But now, everyone expected her to catch the stupid thing because literally everyone just so happened to be busy. She had been searching for hours now. Nothing was going Annabeth's way today.

Annabeth wiped her finger on her shirt. Even if she couldn't get herself put together, she still had to get Percy's gift ready. She was running out of time. A twig snapped. She twisted sharply, tuning her ear in that direction. Leaves rustled.

 _Gotcha!_ Annabeth thought, lunging forward with her knife.

Nothing was there. She frowned. Then, she heard laughter. Oh, that dwarf was going to get it now!

 _Think, Annabeth, think. Make a plan. You're being stupid_.

After pausing to think, she was struck with inspiration. Sometimes, Annabeth really loved being Athena's daughter. She pulled a couple of bright gold drachmas from her pocket. Dwarves love shiny objects. She would have preferred to have some silver, but she could work with this. She reached in her back pocket for her Yankees Cap. It was worn out from years of use. The magic still worked, though. She slipped it on, becoming invisible. Carefully, she placed the coins around the base of the nearest tree. She waited. Presently, a creature came into view. It was her dwarf. Cautiously, he peered around, searching for danger. Finding none, he gleefully clapped his hands together, performing an awful monstrosity of a jig. He rushed forward, grabbing a coin. At the same time, Annabeth snatched him up, removing her hat.

"No fair!" the dwarf whined. "You used magic to trick me. You tricked me!"

He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. He kicked his legs, trying to free himself.

"Hey, how about to stop struggling, and I let you keep two Drachmas?"

The Dwarf stuck out his lip.

"Fine. Drachma first."

Annabeth knew he wasn't really in a position to barter but she obliged anyway. She had nothing to lose. She was just ready to be done. There was no way this dwarf was strong enough to get away. She scooped up her change, giving one to the happy man, and depositing the rest back into her jeans. Annabeth dragged him to the edge of Camp Half-Blood, tossing him past the borders. He sprinted away, singing songs of his victory. Annabeth glanced at the time.

 _Oh, Styx!_

She was supposed to have met Percy 30 minutes ago! She groaned, running down the hill to her former cabin. She burst in, seeing an empty cabin. They must have been at the camp fire by now. She rushed to her bunk, seeing any empty, brown box. Her eyes widened.

No, no, no, no, no!

Frantically, she searched under the bed and through her drawers.

Oh, gods, no!

Percy's gift was missing. Annabeth hung her head in defeat. There was no time to find it or try to replace it. She was already late. She was ruining his birthday. Annabeth trudged to the bathroom, looking over herself in the mirror. Smudged, bloody face. Revolting hair. Tired eyes. And, was that B.O.? She grabbed a nearby comb and got rid of her tangles, mostly. Next, she dampened a cloth, trying to remove the stains from her cheeks as much as possible.

Well, Annabeth, you've got to go.

She decided to give Percy a call. She had asked him not to call her all day so that she could prepare. She could already see the look of disappointment clouding Percy's face. Ugh. He didn't answer. Her phone dinged.

 _Sorry I missed your call. I came to Camp to check on you. Just meet me at the pavilion._

Annabeth felt like the scum of the earth. Percy had grown tired of waiting so he drove himself all the way out here. They were supposed to have a fancy dinner. She cursed herself. Percy was upset, and she had no way to cheer him up. She made her way to the pavilion, empty-handed. As she neared, she saw Percy wearing a blue, tailored suit. She smiled for a moment. _Gods, he's handsome_. In a Percy sort of way. He wasn't anything special, really. Just an average build with an average face, but to Annabeth, he was an Adonis. He spotted her, waving as she approached. His smile was wide, inviting.

"Annabeth!" He called.

She groaned. Once she got to the pavilion, Percy furrowed his brow in concern.

"What the Hades happened to you?"

He cupped her face, inspecting the scratch.

"Are you okay?"

Annabeth couldn't help it. She burst into tears, recounting the day's events.

"Gods, I'm sorry, Percy. I've ruined your birthday. I'm a failure. I don't even know where your gift went, maybe the dwarf took it, I don't know. I'm no Aphrodite girl, I don't care a whole lot, but I look like trash, and- and, gods, I'm just so sorry."

Annabeth didn't know why she was sobbing so much. Maybe it was because Percy meant so much to her. She wanted to give him at least one perfect day in their crazy lives.

"No, Annabeth," he said firmly. He locked eyes with her, his calm, sea green irises calming the storm inside her piercing grey eyes.

"You didn't ruin anything. Forget about that gift."

"But I picked it out special, you'd love it."

Percy cut her off.

"Annabeth, that gift is nothing compared to the gift you're about to give me."

Annabeth paused, sniffling.

"What? What do you mean, Percy? What gift, I don't-"

She stopped abruptly when Percy knelt to the ground.

Oh, gods. Was this it? No, it couldn't be. Oh, gods.

Annabeth tried to contain her mounting excitement.

"Annabeth Minerva Chase."

Oh, he used the full name. This was real.

"I've, uh, I've known you for a long time, uh."

Percy blushed, stuttering, messing up his words. He was so cute when he was flustered. Yep, definitely real.

"I've known you for twelve years, and loved you even longer, uh. Styx. Crap, that doesn't make any sense. Gods, okay. Whatever. Annabeth, I love you. Will you marry me?"

Annabeth nodded, still crying. This time, for a different reason.

"Oh, gods yes, Percy!" she choked out joyfully, throwing her arms around him. She kissed him passionately.

"Now, Percy. You know I'd marry you without one, but did you happen to bring a ring?"

His blush deepened as he jerked his hands into his pocket, producing a simple, silver, diamond ring. It was cut into an oval shape.

"What? No box?" Annabeth teased, wiping her tears away.

"I, uh, forgot it." Percy responded, embarrassed. "And I'm sorry about today, the dwarf wasn't supposed to mess with you like that. I hired him to distract you for, like, one hour so I could sneak into camp."

Annabeth took a minute to process the information while Percy slipped the ring on her finger.

"Wait, what? You hired the dwarf? What's going on? Why?" Annabeth demanded.

Percy smiled slyly.

"Well, my dear," Percy began. "Children of Athena always have a plan. This time, a son of Poseidon decided to have one. I had a mole inside Camp Half-Blood inform me that a certain Annabeth Chase would be wrapping my gifts at Camp."

"Was the mole Grover?" Annabeth interrupted.

"Um, uh, that part's not important," Percy stammered. "I've got a thing going here, Wise Girl, let me finish."

He took a deep breath. Annabeth smiled, rolling her eyes.

"So, my mole informed me. Next, I needed a way to get into Camp to set up my plan, without being spotted by you. What better way than to have a problem occur on the other side of Camp. A minor problem that everybody, but you, were simply too busy to deal with. So, I came here, and practiced my speech a few times, and waited on you to get done with the dwarf. It took longer than I anticipated, though. But here we are."

Percy spread his arms wide triumphantly. Annabeth pursed her lips.

"But couldn't you have just proposed when I took you out to dinner. Or you know, after? Why go through all this trouble?"

Percy looked hurt. He stared sheepishly at the ground.

"Well, I thought you were supposed to propose somewhere special. And, well you know, this is where we had our first kiss." He mumbled out.

Annabeth wanted to sob all over again.

"Oh, Percy," she whispered softly. _Gods, he was such a romantic and he didn't even know it._ "It's perfect. Seaweed Brain."

She kissed him again. Percy's smile returned.

"Gods, I love you, Percy. I'm sorry I look so bad."

He took her hand, walking her down to the pier.

"I love you, Annabeth."

They stood for a while, watching the moon reflect its calming aura off the crystal waters. Percy wrapped his arms around her protectively. She twisted her neck to see him gazing lovingly from underneath his hair. He gave her his stupid, goofy grin. She smiled, knowing exactly what she was going to say next.


End file.
